Resistance
by SHSLHope
Summary: Some will rise. Some will fall. We are never giving up this fight. (AU Where the Yang and Mercury fight was prevented)


The day had finally come.

Yang yawned loudly, stretching out her arms and legs exaggeratedly as her sister gaped at her in disbelief. Although her eyes were closed, the blonde huntress had to quickly open an eye to see the look on Ruby's face. Yep. She was right. The expression she wore was priceless and exactly what she was expecting. Yang bit her lip as hard as she could to supress a grin. It was so fun – not to mention ridiculously easy – to fool her sister.

"Yang! You get to fight today, and you're _tired_?" The victim whined, her wide silver eyes searching the schemer's face for any signs of excitement. Yang must have been a better actor than she thought, for Ruby groaned loudly and tugged on her leg with all her might, trying to pry her from her lying position. Either Ruby was too weak, or Yang too heavy; no matter how hard she tried, Yang remained with her eyes closed, ignoring her sister's pleas and whines. Okay, well maybe she wasn't _ignoring_ her more than she was _trying to_ ignore her. But the scene was just so comical that Yang had to turn away to face the wall and hide her grin.

Pausing to steady herself and highly anticipating the next reaction, Yang sighed. "I don't know Ruby. I just don't think it's that big a deal."

Ruby's eyes bulged right out of their sockets. "What?" She cried, gasping loudly. The young girl felt many emotions seize her all at once: shock hit her first – because since when did Yang ever think that fighting, that is, in a combative sense, was not a 'big deal'? – then panic – maybe Yang was sick and that was a huge problem because Yang _never_ got sick – and then finally, anger. Ruby was a _little_ bit angry. Why? Because _she_ wanted to fight. _She_ thought that she would be the most suitable to fight because _she_ was the leader and she thought that everyone else would feel the same way. But that wasn't the case. It turned out that not only did Ruby want to fight in the next round but so did Weiss and Yang; even Blake hinted at her wanting to try individual combat, although she would never admit it openly without some coercion.

So they asked their friends. First Jaune was asked, although everyone knew who he would choose to represent team RWBY. Then Nora was asked, who couldn't decide until Ren had given his answer. "I think Yang should fight. You wouldn't want to mess with Yang." He had said and that was all it took for Nora to cast her vote. Poor Pyrrha was too kind-hearted to pick one person and others were deemed by all members of team RWBY to be either too biased or too indecisive to provide a sufficient opinion. So they asked acquaintances in the end, members of the public, not their potential rivals, and sure enough Yang was chosen.

So yeah. Ruby was annoyed. Sure, she was happy that her sister got the opportunity to fight, but she had to admit that it hurt her pride that others' didn't… you, know, choose her instead. And now Yang was saying that she didn't want to fight? The idea was baffling as well as frustrating.

Ruby opened her mouth to respond, but a voice behind her spoke up first.

"She's lying."

Weiss Schnee finished adjusting the final pin in her hair before effortlessly gliding over to where Yang lay. After Weiss had rolled the huntress over to face the girls, Ruby saw that her sister was convulsing vehemently, her entire body shaking with supressed laughter. Now she had been found out, Yang howled, clutching her stomach, tearing falling from her eyes. "That was too funny, sis! You should have seen your face!"

Weiss rolled her eyes and walked back to the mirror to inspect her appearance one last time. "Seriously Yang, you are so immature. You need to focus if you want to do well."

"Not to mention you really freaked Ruby out there." Their other teammate said quietly, not looking up from the book she was reading. Blake Belladonna sat cross legged on her own bed, her face stoic and expressionless.

Breathing deeply, Yang slung an arm around Ruby's shoulders, seeing the latter's pursed lips. She ruffled her hair playfully, ignoring Ruby's protestations. "Aw, I'm sorry Ruby; it's not my fault that you are too easy to trick though." Standing up, Yang walked over to the window, grinning at the sight of the various students and the stands outside. The Vytal Festival was one of the many things that Yang had looked forward to the most, even before arriving at Beacon. Participating in the tournament was something she had dreamed of ever since she was a kid and the entire experience thus far gave her a sort of giddy joy. The idea of not only exhibiting her own combat skills but also learning from others' was one which she loved immensely; what made it even better was that she as able to experience it all with her younger sister and her closest friends.

 _Yeah._ She thought to herself as they all packed up their belongings and headed out to the arena, _Yeah. This is really awesome._ She stole a couple of glances at her friends and considered each of them in turn. Even as they all greeted their other friends, Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora and Ren, Yang could not keep down the butterflies that had fizzled up in her stomach. She wasn't nervous; why should she be? No, she wasn't nervous at all; she was excited.

The Vytal Festival; right here in Beacon. Make no mistake; Yang and her team were going to kick some ass out there.

Yang stole a glance at Ruby, who was laughing with Nora about something Jaune had said, and smiled.

 _Yeah. Let's win this thing._

The doors behind him flew open. Spinning round in surprise - for even Professor Ozpin did not expect guests of any kind, especially not when a match was about to start – his eye landed on a woman bent double with her hands on her knees and panting as if she had run a full circuit around the entirety of Vale. He started; he didn't expect to see _her_ here.

She had changed since he had seen her last. She has remained small in height but shadows loomed under her eyes and her cheeks were slightly sunken. She held a hand out against the wall suddenly to stop herself from falling over and sat up with a deep sigh to lean against it to face him. Her hair was shorter; cut to her shoulder blades; before Ozpin always used to see it braided and falling way past her mid-back; but her eyes were the same. The same, luminescent, golden eyes. Ozpin supposed that they would never change; they do say that the eyes are windows to the soul.

The woman opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. She had choked upon inhaling too quickly and coughed a little. Ozpin had stood up now and ushered her to the chair across from him. A few moments passed in complete silence. Ozpin rested the tips of his fingers together in silent contemplation. This _was_ indeed a shock, he could not deny that. Not that he wasn't pleased to see her, although she did look in bad shape. He just was not sure why she had arrived – what did she need? She never kept in touch with him like she had promised – only to tell him that it had finally happened and that she would able to cope just fine without him. But now what? As he calmly examined her sip some water and struggle to breathe regularly, all possibilities plagued his mind, one scenario after another scenario flared up like wildfire, each bearing fruit to more awful explanations.

Finally, she looked up at him. It was astounding how much those eyes had remained their captivation, their fierceness. "Professor Ozpin, please stop this."

"Hm?" He replied after a moment's pause. "What do you mean, child? Are you alright? You've been away for so long and –" He stopped at the look on the woman's face. Shadows of intransigence rested on her brow like a fog and her eyes watered and narrowed. Concerned and perplexed, Ozpin leant forward slightly to study her face for any signs of acquiesce. There were none. Then again, this woman never joked about anything anymore.

"Please explain to me calmly; why are you so distressed?" He spoke gently; he noticed that the girl's hands shook. She noticed too and hid them under the table, clutching one with the other.

The stranger looked about her before answering. It's strange; the clock tower hadn't changed a bit since she had seen it last. The books on the bookshelves were the same, although covered in dust; she supposed few people had need for them now that technology had advanced so much. A steaming cup of coffee rested on Professor Ozpin's right; the smell of it diffused through the entire room so all she could smell was coffee beans and the dust from the bookshelves. _Yep._ She thought despite herself, _definitely the same_. All around the room was tidy, everything going exactly where it needed to be, apart from Ozpin's desk itself, which was cluttered with all sorts of things. A cactus sat next to the Ozpin's arm, dangerously close so if he adjusted he position ever so slightly he would get attack by the regiment of spikes. Thousands of pieces of paper lay collected to both sides of the table; Ozpin had quickly cleared the area before helping the girl. He used to say that living in such chaos was a sign of great intelligence and she had always thought it to be true after she met him.

She took a sip of her water and glanced at her watch; fifteen minutes until the match starts. "Professor, I'm sorry for intruding like this, it's just… well…"

"If it is something I need to be aware of, please let me know."

The sun shone proudly outside and even in the tower she could hear the vibrations of students' chatter outside. All of a sudden a sharp pull of sorrow gripped her stomach and twisted it mercilessly; she thought about two years prior; why did time have to pass her by so quickly? She had a migraine – the worst she had had in a while – which didn't help with the jumble of words spinning around in her brain; words that were exchanged a couple of days ago. She wondered how she could make Ozpin believe her, especially after what she had done to him, to the school, especially. Then she remembered that Professor Ozpin was the most understanding man she knew; there was a reason why she came to him and not Professor Goodwitch or even General Ironwood. Yes, he was the best person to confide in and if he didn't heed her warning, no one would.

She needed to try.

"Professor Ozpin, _please._ You need to stop this fight. Before it is too late."

 **Hey there, readers! To commentate the release of Volume Four, I have decided to make a RWBY story. I hope you guys like it; please review, if you have time; they are very much appreciated. I'm excited to begin this epic journey with you all.**

 **Please feel free to PM me; I love talking to people and discussing theories, FNDM life in general, that sort of thing.**

 **Until next time.**


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